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Friday, January 27, 2012

Chana Thakkali Kuzhambu

Only very few dishes go well with everything, like idlis, dosas, rotis, puris, pulaos or just mixed with plain white rice, this is one such, usually I make it without even adding the chana, just with some small onions. Today I added chana and made it protein-rich, you can make it with brinjals, potatoes and even with mushrooms. This definitely tastes different from the usual chana masala, so try this, I am sure you'll like it..

Need To Have

Chana - 1 + 1/2 cups

Tomato Puree - 2 + 1/2 cups

Manathakkali Vathal - 2 teaspoons

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Coconut - 1 tablespoon

Curry Leaves - a sprig

Roast And Grind

Coriander Seeds - 1 + 1/2 tablespoons

Mustard - 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon

Sesame Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Chana Dal - 1 teaspoon

Urad Dal - 1 teaspoon

Black Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon

Dried Red Chillies - 2

Method
Soak the chana overnight and pressure cook them. Roast all the ingredients given under roast-and-grind and make a paste with the coconut and 2 tablespoons of the cooked chana. Take the tomato puree, add the paste, turmeric powder, salt and enough water, mix well and keep. Heat oil, add the manathakkali vathal and the curry leaves, when the sizzling stops, pour in the tomato mixture and the chana, boil and simmer for 7 to 10 mins. Remove and serve with whatever you are planning to have that day, idli, dosa, etc..

Note
For those who are not familiar with manathakkali vathal, it is the sun dried seeds of the manathakkali plant, it is available in the grocery stores in India, it looks like peppercorns ( a little lighter shade), but not as hard. If you don't find them, just do the seasoning with mustard and fenugreek seeds.
The tomatoes available here are never very sour, use the fleshy tomatoes, not the small tart ones.
Adjust the red chillies to your taste, mine are very spicy, so I use only two.

Dear Hema,Thanks so much for coming over to my place and leaving a nice thought!I followed you back and you have such a lovely blog!I see that you are a very versatile cook so look forward to more interesting recipes here:)Nice knowing you!